At this point in time there is not an online entrepreneur left who does not recognize the immense power and promise that the use of an affiliate marketing article offers. Sure, text links and banner ads are great, but when it comes to creating the kind of advertising vehicle that consumers will hold on to and even pass on to others, you cannot beat simple article marketing! Of course, like any other good thing there are pitfalls to avoid.
As a matter of fact, the 10 deadly sins of an affiliate marketing article must be avoided at all cost, lest your company reputation will suffer!
1. Whatever you do with your affiliate marketing article, do not use it to spam a blog or a forum. Some self proclaimed marketers have attempted to use such articles as forum posts and while they might write different introductions for the article to make it look like an ad hoc posting in response to another forum poster, within a few short sentences it becomes painfully obvious that the post is little more than an unwelcome sales pitch.
2. Unless you are a seasoned wordsmith, have your affiliate marketing article ghostwritten. The sheer volume of badly written articles be it diction, grammar, or punctuation is legion and there is little more embarrassing than having your customers point out a number of mistakes and error.
3. Fact-check your articles. This is vital when you use statistical data but also quotes.
4. Keep it pithy. 400 to 500 words are more than sufficient to write a worthwhile piece of non fiction to market your company, good, or service. Exceeding the 800 word count is pushing it.
5. Do not put all of your advertising eggs in one basket but instead commission (if you use a ghostwriter) a number of articles that look at the topic and product form a number of different angles. This puts volume behind your marketing campaign and while one approach may not appeal to your readers, another one might have just the hook you need to get the reader to turn into a buyer.
6. Do not overdo the pitch in your affiliate marketing article. Sure, you want everyone to know that your products and company at the cats meow, but unless you tempter substance with advertising, you will not find too many readers.
7. Advertise one thing only per article. Choose your product, your company, or an email newsletter you are offering for free. Cutting down on the things marketed permit for the development of a great strategy throughout the article.
8. Forgetting to include an opt-in link to your mailing list or email newsletter subscription database is perhaps the most egregious of the 10 deadly sins of an affiliate marketing article. Each article that is not offering that option simply is not working hard enough for you!
9. Having too many articles that differ in tone. While some articles may lend themselves to be spunky but intellectual, the failure to have your article ghostwritten by one writer will lead to a number of different skill levels to craft your work. Instead, request that one freelancer be given the assignment to make sure the tone remains similar.
10. Last but not least, cutting and pasting freely available material from the Internet is a deadly sin that might not get you in trouble, but it will show that your company has nothing new to offer. This is not the impression you want your clientele to have of you, your product, or the company you represent!
Seven Deadly Sins Vanity
If you're a network marketer, there's a 95% probability that you've not yet achieved success in this industry. If, on the other hand, you're currently seeking a network marketing business opportunity, this is a statistical fact that is important for you to recognize. Even worse is the dismal fact that this is the approximate percentage of network marketers who will NEVER achieve success in this industry--UNLESS they become aware of what I will refer to here as its three "deadly sins" and find an effective way to avoid them.
The purpose of this article is to help you to become aware of these pervasive pitfalls, how they lead most networkers inevitably to what I refer to, sardonically, as Network Marketing "hell," and--most important of all--to present an alternative approach that can quickly lead to salvation in what I think quite fittingly can be called a "Network Marketing Paradise."
Unfortunately, nearly all network marketers are actively seduced into committing these "deadly sins" for the simple reason that--until very recently--they have provided the ONLY means for achieving success in the network marketing industry. All of them are based on the nearly universal and common-sensical premise in this industry that the ONLY way to succeed is to invest one's personal and financial resources directly, immediately, and one-pointedly into promoting and building one's primary business. As self-validating as this seems, the evidence is now overwhelming that this approach simply doesn't work well for the vast majority of people who enter this industry.
The good news is that there is now a highly effective alternative way to "salvation" for at least a large percentage of those who have fallen into the morass of failure and disillusionment to which this prevailing approach often and unfortunately leads.
The Three Deadly Sins of Network Marketing
The term, "sin," as used here has no moral implications of any kind; rather, it is used in its original sense as translated from the Greek word, hamartia, meaning "to miss the mark" or "to miss the target." Given this amoral definition, here's a list of the three "deadly sins" of traditional network marketing:
1. Spending vast amounts of money, time, and energy in promoting one's business and/or products to prospects who are highly unqualfied. Typically, this starts with one's "warm market"--i.e., one's immediate circle of family and friends. Not uncommonly, in enthusiastically and aggressively trying to recruit these folks, neophyte network marketers often meet with much negativity and create considerable alienation. Not surprisingly, this is a common early source of major disappointment and disillusionment.
2. Spending even greater amounts of money, time, and energy in promoting one's business to the "cold market," either on a face-to-face basis or through calling leads. In working with this market, as is commonly stated in the industry, "it's in the numbers." This means that for every qualified prospect successfully recruited, it's usually necessary to give presentations to large numbers of people who prove NOT to be qualified. So the return on investment here can be--and often is--horrifically low. Also, it requires a tremendous degree of commitment, persistence, and willingness to endure the frustration inherent in this process. Not surprisingly, then, the large majority of people new to the business will run out of money and/or personal endurance before they achieve a signficant degree of success.
3. Failure among those recruited to one's business team to duplicate successfully the method(s) used to recruit them. Since duplication is the sine qua non of ALL network marketing, this is a huge, and often, fatal problem. Although most network marketing companies tout a simple and easy-to-duplicate business plan, only a very small minority of new recruits are actually successful in implementing this duplication. The main reasons for this are as listed above.
A Pathway to Salvation--The Funded Proposal Franchising System
Fortunately, thanks to the rapid evolution of highly sophisticated and effective new forms of internet marketing, an effective means to "salvation" from all of these common failings is now readily available to anyone with internet access and the willingness to learn how to use them. Basically, internet technology has opened the way for a brand new paradigm of network marketing to emerge that not only avoids all of the problems of the traditional approach, but has a number of additional advantages to boot.
One highly effective variant of this new paradigm is called a Funded Proposal Franchising System. One of its unique features is that it utilizes a system of carefully chosen affiliate programs synergistically designed to generate income very quickly. This income is then dedicated, in part, to promoting one's primary network marketing business entirely through internet advertising.
Since this business building system is completely internet-based, it completely eliminates all forms of personal promotion and recruitment. This, in turn, eliminates all of the wasted time and effort that is entailed in the traditional model in trying to recruit large numbers of highly unqualified prospects. In this new paradigm, the business builder works ONLY with people who have established a high degree of qualification and motivation by actually enrolling in his/her business-building system.
One of the main effects of this marked difference is that the business builder's main role is transformed from being that of a personal promoter/recruiter/salesperson into a role that is much more satisfying for most people--namely that of being a supportive mentor/guide who also provides customer service.
An added major advantage of this new approach is that it not only has great appeal to prospective business opportunity seekers--once they understand it--but also to the vast numbers of traditional network marketers who have been floundering in "network marketing hell," as it has been described here.
As someone who has spent a lot of time in this hellish predicament, I can testify that discovering and applying this new paradigm has been, for me, much like finding the gateway to a paradise.
So whether you are somebody seeking salvation from the "deadly sins" of network marketing, or a business opportunity seeker simply wanting to avoid the high probability of failure that they entail, I highly recommend that you investigate carefully this very attractive new alternative.
You can learn more about it through the links provided below.
Both Nidhi Goel & Gshears are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Gshears has sinced written about articles on various topics from Network Marketing, Learn Hypnosis and Medicine. George Shears is a retired psychologist, wellness consultant, and network marketer living in the remote north woods of Minnesota. In retirement, one of his main missions is to promote wellness and prosperity throughout the world. He can be contacted at6. Gshears's top article generates over 6600 views. Bookmark Gshears to your Favourites.
529 New York College Savings Plan Contribution limits for the retirement plans are in 2005, 14,000 for a 401k and 4,000 for an IRA, whether Roth or traditional. In 2006, this amount will increase to 15,000 for both 401k and IRAs